1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of preparing novel cereal products having non-cereal material as included ingredients and, in particular, is directed to the preparation of fruit products particularly suited for incorporation in dry breakfast cereals. More specifically, the invention pertains to the treatment of fruits for the retention of their desirable semi-moistness and soft texture during storage and use when employed as adjunct ingredients in dry cereals such as wheat, bran and corn flakes, puffed rice and wheat, sugar coated cereal flakes and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The combination of fruit and dry breakfast cereal has significant consumer appeal. The food processing industry, recognizing the wide enjoyment of fresh fruit with dry breakfast cereals has in the past developed products composed of dry cereal combined with dehydrated fruit. Although enjoying some consumer acceptance, manufacturers of breakfast cereals have been aware of the deficiencies inherent in the breakfast products in which a dry cereal is packaged with a dehydrated fruit and have sought methods to improve upon the quality of these products.
Major among the problems encountered with the dehydrated fruits for use as an admix with dry cereal is that of texture and flavor. Generally, in order to have a satisfactory degree of stability it is the usual practice to dehydrate the fruits to a level whereat they are hard and have a tough fibrous structure and texture. The difference in texture between the fresh fruit and its dried counterpart, dehydrated sufficiently to prevent spoilage, is of such magnitude as to make the dried fruit unappetizing and unacceptable to much of the consuming public. Also, the dehydrated fruit does not readily reconstitute to a soft, acceptable texture upon addition of cold milk to the cereal. In most instances by the time the fruit pieces have absorbed sufficient liquid to attain an acceptable texture, the cereal has become unappetizingly soggy.
Freeze-dried fruit pieces, although having the capability of reconstituting quickly with cold milk, are costly to produce and, upon rehydration, yield products which are inferior to their fresh fruit counterparts.
Conversely, if the fruit is only dehydrated to the extent it retains a high degree of moisture in order to have a soft texture, it will either not be bacteriologically stable at room temperature or, when admixed with the dry cereal, will lose moisture to the cereal and thus cause the cereal to become soggy and the fruit to become dry, hard, and excessively tough.
Although shelf stable fruits having moisture levels sufficient to impart softness to the fruit have been prepared in the past, they have been processed for the attainment of bacteriological stability and, what has apparently escaped the prior art and that which forms the gist of the present invention is the discovery that fruit and fruit pieces can be processed to a soft, semi-moist condition by a method which inhibits substantially all moisture migration from the fruit to the cereal when packaged as a mixture and thereby ensures the retention of the desirable textural attributes of both the fruit and the cereal materials--a method which provides for the admixing of the fruit with substantially all types of dry cereals with equivalent satisfactory results. Thus, the present invention, to a significant degree, resolves the aforementioned problems and is manifest in dry, crisp breakfast cereal products in which are admixed semi-moist, soft fruit wherein both the fruit and the cereal retain their individual desirable organoleptic qualities upon storage in conventional packaging over prolonged periods of time.